1. Field of Invention
The current invention relates generally to apparatus, systems and methods for collaborative networking. More particularly, the apparatus, systems and methods relate to collaborative networking involving different groups, teams and/or individuals. Specifically, the apparatus, systems and methods provide for providing a collaborative networking environment that authenticates and controls access to the environment by different groups, teams and/or individuals.
2. Description of Related Art
A fairly recent development in computing has been the development of collaborative networking. Collaborative networking allows people in different locations to access common computing equipment, resources and data. For example, employees of a business with locations in New York and San Francisco can join together with collaborative networking to conduct a meeting without needing to leave their respective locations. Software such as Microsoft Office SharePoint is available to allow each location to log into a meeting location on the network. The software can bring up a common screen at both locations to allow meeting members to communicate over the network, display documents, edit documents and conduct a meeting with everyone participating having real time access to common documents.
In more detail, Microsoft Office (MS) SharePoint is a web application platform developed by Microsoft and launched in 2001. Microsoft Office SharePoint is designed as a centralized replacement for multiple web applications and supports various combinations of enterprise website requirements. It is typically associated with web content management and document management systems.
MS SharePoint's multi-purpose platform allows for managing and provisioning of intranet portals, extranets and websites, document and file management, collaboration spaces, social networking tools, enterprise search, business intelligence tooling, process/information integration, and third-party developed solutions. MS SharePoint can also be used as a web application development platform.
MS SharePoint is capable of supporting multiple organizations on a single ‘server farm’. Microsoft provides a SharePoint foundation system at no cost but sells premium editions with additional functionality, and also provides MS SharePoint as a cloud computing solution as part of Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS) and Office 365. The product is also sold as a cloud solution by local third-party vendors. SharePoint provides various methods for customization and configuration of web areas, all of which have granular governance configurations. Beyond basic page-editing, file-storing and custom design (‘branding’) abilities, one of the more prevalent forms of configuration is the ability to install third-party customizations called ‘web parts’ (i.e., portlets/widgets/gadgets).
SharePoint 2010 provides collaboration tools that are used to share ideas, find people and expertise, and locate business information. With SharePoint 2010 “communities” features, people can work together using a full set of collaboration tools—from wikis to workflows and team sites to tagging. A single, flexible platform makes it easy to manage these tools and design the right collaborative experiences for different business needs.
MS SharePoint provides a variety of tools for creating different networks sites with a single infrastructure that simplifies site management. For example, a team site can be created for colleagues, an extranet site can be created for partners or MS SharePoint can be used to create an Internet site for customers. MS SharePoint allows the sharing and publishing of information using one familiar system. Even though there has been some collaborative networking software developed, there still exists a need for improved collaborative networking software and systems.